As well as human rights in third countries, Parliament also maintains a watching brief on the situation within the EU. This month in Strasbourg, MEPs discussed a report by Aline Pailler (EUL/NGL), which argued that EU states must ensure that human rights are fully respected; otherwise the EU will have no credibility when demanding that human rights be respected by third countries, as a condition for receiving EU aid and trade benefits. She also stressed the need for a broad definition of human rights, believing that the rights to a job, to housing and a decent standard of living were as important as civil rights such as freedom of speech. "Where a man lives in poverty", she said, "his human rights are not being respected."
Mrs Pailler was extremely worried about the rise of racism and the increase in social exclusion. She called on member states to adopt or reinforce anti-racist laws by basing them on the principle that "racism is a crime" whatever form it takes. The European Parliament itself was not exempt from criticism, and MEPs backed Mrs Pailler's call for Parliament's President to be able to take disciplinary action in response to racist remarks made by MEPs during its official meetings.
Mrs Pailler also secured MEPs' consent to a condemnation of the Irish law on abortion, which bans all information or expression of opinion in favour of the voluntary termination of pregnancy. They also voted to ask the British government to abolish restrictions on the right to strike.
Finally, she was concerned at the ill-treatment, and even torture, still inflicted on prisoners and people under arrest in EU prisons, despite the ratification by all member states of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The picture was not all gloom. Mrs Pailler welcomed the inclusion in EU legislation and agreements of non-discrimination clauses banning discrimination based on ethnic origin, sex, colour, religion, national origin and sexual orientation.
MEPs split largely along party lines, with a majority voting 260 to 188 with 38 abstentions. They also believed she was pursuing an ideological agenda and treating human rights as a political football. They claimed that the demands that Mrs Pailler was putting forward were unrealistic and exaggerated. Others argued that the fight for human rights was universal and that the EU must accept self-criticism. The British government also came under fire from Niall Andrews (Dublin, UFE) for its treatment of Roisin McAliskey who was being detained by the authorities under suspicion of terrorism and had, he said, "been driven to the edge of insanity."